


so raise your glass

by LtTanyaBoone



Category: Bomb Girls
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-01
Updated: 2013-05-01
Packaged: 2017-12-10 03:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/781065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LtTanyaBoone/pseuds/LtTanyaBoone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lawrence's birthday celebration turns into something else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	so raise your glass

_September 10, 1939_

The champagne did nothing to keep the laughter from bubbling up in her throat, and Gladys pressed a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stiffle her outburst.

“You are terrible.” she hissed under her breath, elbowing her brother after making sure their mother was currently busy making small talk with one of the people their father was trying to get a contract with.

“Like you didn’t think it.” Lawrence grinned at her, taking a sip from his own glass and throwing a charming smile at the daughter of one of their acquaintances. Gladys frowned at the woman before she shook her head.

“I did not compare her hat to a cake platter!” she exclaimed in indignation. No, she had been thinking more along the lines of a film roll. But she wasn’t about to tell her brother that and give him the satisfaction.

“Aw, lighten up, Gladie.” Lawrence teased her, motioning for a waiter and handing over his empty glass. “I’d like a whiskey. And for Gladie-”

“I am fine.” she shook her head at the man and sent him running to fetch her brother a drink.

“It’s not like father will notice.” her brother muttered, resting his hand at her back as they started navigating through the throng of guests. Why their mother had insisted on these festivities was a mystery to her, especially given how little interest their father had shown in the preparations of these celebrations. Then again, it seemed like the man’s mind was always elsewhere these days.

“You have been trying to get me drunk the whole day. I’m starting to think you are planning one of your pranks. Which tend to backfire whenever I am involved.” she raised an eyebrow at him. When he had been younger, Lawrence had used his big dark eyes to get out of trouble his mischievous side had gotten him into frequently, but now that he was growing older, Gladys had to admit that her brother was indeed a handsome man. With their dark hair and eyes, they did resemble each other, though most people never suspected that the fire they saw burning in Lawrence was just as alive in his sister, though their mother and their school had been trying their best to put it out with their lessons of appropriate behavior.

Lawrence shook his head, accepting the glass from the waiter when he returned.

“And maybe you should follow my example.” she added when he took a big gulp.

“Father has this radio of his on in the office. It’s blaring the whole time, and every time I hear the broadcast it seems to be getting darker.” her brother confided.

Gladys recoiled slightly from him, swallowing thickly.

“You don’t think we will join the war, do you?” she asked him, hating how her voice quivered. She’d been doing her best to avoid the newscasts these past few days. Listening to them just made feel depressed.

As Lawrence opened his mouth to answer, his eyes drifted over her shoulder, something catching his attention.

“There you are.” a male voice sounded behind Gladys, making her turn around slowly as Lawrence reached out to shake the hand of a man his age.

“I hope our mother didn’t chew your ear off.” he commented to the stranger, who smiled as she shrugged.

“No, she’s just trying to entertain. When I told her I hadn’t congratulated the birthday boy yet she shooed me along.”

“Birthday boy?” Gladys commented under her breath, giving her brother a look that told him he was not going to live this down.

“Oh, sorry, where are my manners?” Lawrence apologized. “Gladys, meet James Dunn, father’s newest hire and fresh out of the US. James, my sister Gladys.”

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Witham.” James muttered, taking her hand for a soft kiss.

“Now I finally get to put a face to the name.” she smiled at him, casting a look at her brother. “Lawrence has been going on about your knowledge of the American market.”

Thankfully, her brother was not drinking at that point, because from the look he gave her, he probably would have choked. Lawrence had been going on about his father’s latest idea to improve their influence on the US market, but his words hadn’t been ones of praise. If she remembered correctly, he had called James Dunn an “arrogant prick” that had “no clue what he’s doing” more than once. She wasn’t about to tell the man that, she just wanted her brother to know that she remembered what exactly he had said. It was good to have something to hold against him, should Lawrence decide to inform their father which one of his children had actually put the dent in the car.

“How are you liking Canada?” she added when the other man gave her a soft smile.

“It’s not so different from home here.” James told her, accepting the glass of whiskey a waiter brought him. “Though my family wasn’t too eager to see me go.”

“Do you have any siblings, Mister Dunn?” Gladys asked him, slipping effortlessly into her role as hostess and hearing Lawrence snicker under his breath. Before James could answer her, their father appeared, grabbing his son by the elbow and pulling him away.

“What was that about?”

“Lawrence was trying to hide from having to make a speech.” Gladys answered, watching the two Witham men stride through the room. She hadn’t liked the expression on her father’s face, nor the grip he had had on her brother’s elbow. Oh God, what if one of the men at the factory had seen them the other day, when Lawrence had been trying to teach her to drive? How many of them were here now, talking to their father with ample opportunity to snitch on her?

“Can’t be that bad.” the American shrugged, turning in time with everyone else when Lawrence and their father appeared again.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” her brother began and Gladys felt the color drain from her face when she heard his voice quiver. “I wish to thank you all for coming, for making the time to celebrate today with us.”

A hush fell over the room when her brother paused, casting a short glance at his father before he looked back at the guests, his eyes finding Gladys’s.

“As your host, it is my duty to inform you that Canada has officially declared war on Germany today.”

There was a dead silence as Gladys closed her eyes, swallowing thickly.

“In light of these news, I understand that you might want to return home. Those who want to stay, though, are more than welcome to. There’s plenty of food and drink for everyone. Let’s celebrate our great country. With our help, the Crown with crush Hitler in no time.”

Lawrence raised the glass of champagne he was holding.

“To Canada.”

“To Canada.” the guests echoed, Gladys merely lifting her glass, her eyes scanning the room and taking note of all the young men, their friends and the sons of their parents’ friends. The boys Lawrence had grown up with, gone to school with; now young men in a country that had just entered into war with Nazi Germany. And as she tried to imagine them in uniforms, Gladys couldn’t help but wonder which ones of them would be laying in cold graves by this time next year.

_fin._


End file.
